How to Grow Water Lilies 
Your Questions 
on Culture are 
answered here. 
HOW TO Water Lilies are easily grown. In 
PLANT, natural conditions Water Lilies root 
in rich soil in the shallow water of 
a marsh or pond where there is plenty of sun¬ 
light. These conditions are easily reproduced 
in the garden. 
In a natural pond the Water Lilies may be 
planted where the water is 1 to 2 feet deep. If 
the bottom is sand or gravel, the roots may be 
planted in a basket of soil and sunk an inch 
below the bottom level. Otherwise they may be 
simply pushed under the soil or anchored with 
a stone if the bottom is too soft to hold them. 
Small pools, including tubs, may best be 
partly filled with soil—6 inches of soil, 6 inches 
of water is correct. In larger pools a satisfac¬ 
tory method is to use tubs or boxes and plant 
in the manner illustrated in the diagram. 
At least one cubic foot of soil should be 
allowed for each Water Lily, and more if pos¬ 
sible. To obtain satisfactory growth in boxes 
they must be large enough to provide plenty of 
nourishment. A single plant in a box 2 feet 
square and a foot deep, filled with proper soil, 
will develop remarkable blooms. 
It is best (though not necessary) to have a 
separate container for each Water Lily, as the 
leaf-spread averages 3 feet in diameter. Shal¬ 
low water plants should be planted in contain¬ 
ers separate from the lilies. 
It is poor practice to drain the pool before 
planting. Boxes and pails in which the lilies 
are planted can be easily set in the pool. It is 
also quite simple to set plants in soil beneath 
the water, as we always do in commercial 
propagation. 
FERTILIZING The best soil for aquatic plants 
AND SOIL. is a mixture of three parts of 
fibrous loam or good garden 
soil with one part of well rotted cow manure. 
A heavy soil is satisfactory and gives best re¬ 
sults if mixed with manure 3 months to a year 
before planting. Other manure may be used but 
not when fresh. Its fermentation may foul the 
pool and injure the young plants. Instead of 
the manure you may use a new commercial 
fertilizer we have developed especially for our 
plants, named Praefecta. Mix one quart with 
three bushels of soil, or use a small amount 
any time to feed plants. For prices, see right 
column. 
Swamp muck should not be used since it is 
often foul, sour, or low in fertility. An application of well rotted 
manure or Praefecta should be given hardy Water Lilies each year 
and new soil every two or three years. 
PLANTING. Water Lilies should be set with the crown of the plant 
just even with the surface of the soil, which is then 
covered with an inch of sand or gravel to keep the water clean. 
Eight inches of water above the crown is best for the production of 
blossoms. Any depth from 6 inches to 2 feet will do, but young 
plants should always be started in shallow water where the warmth 
of the sun reaches them. Full sunlight on the pool is very desirable 
for the growth and formation of blossoms. Plant Water Lilies 3 to 
5 feet apart in the pool. 
LOTUS. The Lotus tubers look very much like large bananas. 
They should be planted in rich soil in a horizontal posi¬ 
tion about two inches below the surface of the soil. The weather 
should be quite warm before they are transplanted, for if the tubers 
are planted in cold water, they very often fail to grow. The water 
should be shallow, six to eight inches being sufficient in which to 
start them, but the depth of the water can be increased as the plant 
develops. Pot plants are simply tubers started in the greenhouse in 
pots and grown along for late planting. These are turned out of the 
pots and should be planted in rich soil in six to eight inches of water. 
WHEN TO Hardy Water Lilies may be planted after the middle of 
PLANT. April, as at that time new leaves appear in the ponds. 
Half-dormant roots are shipped until July and after 
NOTE: 
IN DEEP 
POOLS 
U«5E 
SUPPORTS 
TO HOLD 
BOX UP 
TO RIGHT 
HEIGHT 
Please read these 
directions before 
writing us. 
V777 
I BOK 18" TO 36" 
Wipe | 
How to Plant Water Lilies 
IMPORTANT 
NOTICE 
Please Read 
When We Ship 
Tropical Lilies 
—and Why 
We do not ship tropical lilies 
in the latitude of New York, 
Cleveland and Chicago until 
alter the first week in June be¬ 
cause earlier planting in this 
latitude is not safe. If you 
instruct us to ship earlier than 
this, shipment is made only at 
customer's risk. Of course, for 
planting south of the above 
given latitude, shipments go 
earlier. 
Your pool need not be 
drained to plant tropicals. It 
is better to plant them in the 
warm water that has stood in 
the pool. Fresh cold water is 
liable to chill the lilies. 
that growing plants. Tropical varieties are 
propagated in greenhouse pools. We ship well 
developed growing plants when the tempera¬ 
ture averages about 70 degrees, usually not 
until June in the latitude of New York, 
Cleveland, and Chicago but much earlier in 
the South. Tropical Lilies may also be grown 
in a sunroom or conservatory pool, blooming 
the year around with the aid of occasional 
rations of Praefecta poked under the soil. It 
is to be noted that young tropical Lilies have 
a tendency to become dormant if planted out 
in too cold, deep or shaded water; but if the 
plants are removed to a warm sunny location 
they usually start to grow again. 
WINTER The best winter protection for the 
CARE. Lilies and Lotus is to leave water in 
the pool and to cover the pool with 
boards and leaves or straw. Very little freez¬ 
ing takes place; roots and fish are safe and 
the pool walls cannot crack. 
Under normal conditions hardy Water Lilies, 
Lotus and native aquatics winter in the ponds 
under water and seldom need protection unless 
the water gets very low, or if left in a pool 
which is drained, in which case a covering of 
leaves, straw, or manure should be provided. 
If the roots are planted in boxes, the boxes 
with the roots in may be taken out and covered 
in a trench, or taken into a cool basement and 
kept covered with moist burlap until spring. 
Dry rot is destructive to dormant roots and 
should be avoided by providing natural condi¬ 
tions of cold and moisture. 
Tropical Lilies are best treated as annual 
plants, and replaced year after year. They may 
be kept in bloom all year in indoor pools but 
it is seldom worth while to try to preserve the 
tropicals unless a greenhouse pool is available. 
WINTER CARE OF TUB GARDENS. Dip 
the water out of the tub; fill the tub heaping 
full of leaves. A few boards on top will hold 
the leaves in and help drain the water off. If 
the tub is not buried in the ground, heap leaves 
up around it as well. 
WINTER CARE OF POOLS. Pools may be 
left with the water in if the top is covered 
with boards and the entire pool heaped over 
with leaves or straw. Pools which cannot be 
covered should be drained unless they are heav¬ 
ily reinforced. 
Keep pool clear and clean by using scavengers. See page 26. 
PESTS. How to avoid the problem of the increase of mosquito 
population is solved by the use of fish. The small black 
aphids which sometimes infest the leaves and stems of lilies above 
water or other insect pests may be effectively controlled with our 
new Aquaticide spray. See page 25. 
Use Praefecta Fertilizer 
For Your Water Plants 
After years of experimental work in our laboratory we 
perfected a scientifically prepared chemical fertilizer, our 
Praefecta, excellent for water lilies and aquatic plants. _ It 
can also be used for any other form of flowers and perennials 
with excellent results. Mix one quart with each three bushels 
of soil or use a small amount any time to feed plants. Apply 
according to instructions on containers. _ Stimulates growth 
of plants. Be sure to include Praefecta with your order. 
2 pound carton .$0.75 5 pound bag .$1.50 
3 pound bag . 1.00 10 pound bag . 2.75 
25 pound bag.$6.00 
Save time; read these cultural directions before writing questions which are ansivered here. 
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